Burdens - Chapter 92: Avert
#92 of Burdens
It's a cliffhanger.
I've had a pretty bad day today, sorry the chapter came out a bit delayed.
Chapter 92: Averted
The fox kept quiet initially when the wolf had inquired as to what he had meant, and then when he could no longer keep quiet, he played dumb.
The wolf continued to pester him, though, because as he saw it, the fox had ideas as to what they should do, and if they were valid, as most of his ideas were, then they ought to do them.
Roger hesitated several times through their exchange of words, until finally he said he would tell him later, when they were more comfortable. The wolf accepted, though he had wanted to know that very moment. He was patient, though.
The fox attempted to change the topic, as the silence would only bring up what had been said, and every pause was dangerous. He bombarded the wolf with questions, asking of all the things pertaining to his life, about things he had not previously thought of before, but would have been fine to ask during their date.
When he ran out of questions, he began to talk about himself, but all the while he was attempting to figure a way out of the situation he had created. It was not that it was such an unwanted thing, but he did not know if he was, himself, prepared. At the same time, he did not want to put Hunter into a weird place of which their friendship might not recover from.
He talked about the interesting things that had happened in his life, and he realized that he had led quite a boring life. There were fun times, he was sure, and certain events that were a bit more prominent than others, but all in all, the most exceptional events were but that of the current school year and his encounter with someone whom he had never thought to even speak to.
The time was approaching for them to go to sleep, though he did not really feel all that tired. He acted it, though, and said that it was best that they dozed off for the night. He thought to himself that at least if they were asleep, it would delay their interaction, or perhaps even have the wolf forget about it completely.
Before going to sleep, however, they took their showers and waited a little to dry off. The wolf never really did get quite dry enough, so Roger too the liberty of helping him dry off.
Hunter sat there as the fox rubbed his fur with a towel. It was rough, but it did not hurt, and soon enough he was much drier, though there had been some fur in the air and on the bed, and plenty on the towel. The fox sighed and attempted to sweep it at least onto the floor, since that was a bit easier to clean up.
He had not gotten to the wolf's waist or legs since he had purposefully avoided such areas. His ability to maintain his composure was lacking these days, and he knew it would have been disastrous had he continued.
The wolf dried off the rest of himself, but without the thoroughness of the fox. They gave up and turned the light off. It seemed as if the fox's plan had worked, and at least delayed the wolf's questions for the time being. He crawled into bed next to him and he was pulled in close for a hug.
Roger closed his eyes and sighed deeply. He heard a soft voice behind him.
"Thanks for today, it was fun" the wolf said to him. With it came a squeeze in the hug, to which the fox responded by bringing his paws up to squeeze the wolf's arms.
He turned his head and rubbed his face against the wolf's neck and said, "I'm glad you enjoyed it. Now let's get some sleep, okay? And we can wake up early tomorrow and head over to the park."
The wolf nodded and quieted down. Roger could sweat he could hear him snoring already, which was ridiculous to the fox, but he had come to expect it.
He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, even if slowly. There was some shifting around, and he began to get a bit warm, but moving his leg out from under the covers seemed to help regulate the temperature. He, at one point, though that he had woken the wolf in his tossing and turning, for it caused Hunter to follow suit and shift.
Eventually sleep gripped him and he fell into slumber. He dreamed of all kinds of things that were magical and impossible, but nothing so pleasant and warm as the dream having turned to just holding onto the wolf, petting him, whispering his feelings into his ear.
The dream continued on just as he hoped it would, and it eventually progressed to more lascivious things. There was a bit of groping around in the dark, but it was all simulated in his mind, created in exactly the way he imagined it. He could feel it in his paws, between his fingers, and in the next moment he could taste it, smell it. It was all as he desired.
And he woke. He mentally cursed himself for having lost such a dream, for it had not ended, and it had manifested itself upon his body. He closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep, an exacerbated exhale escaping his muzzle.
He heard a voice behind him and it caused him to jar awake once more. He turned around and saw that the wolf had woken up and had a concerned look on his face.
Roger cleared his throat and sleepily asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"
Hunter let loose a soft, almost inaudible whine, and responded, "I can't sleep."
The fox turned toward him and pulled himself close to the wolf nuzzling into his chest, petting him softly. "Why can't you sleep?" he asked the wolf.
He felt a lick across his face, and then the wolf responded, "It's just... you know what we talked about earlier?"
Roger tried to think about what they could have been talking about to keep the wolf awake. "What do you mean?" he asked, unable to identify anything specific.
"You know," Hunter said, his voice getting low. "When it... it's just there. It isn't really going away, and I didn't really want to bother you, and... do you mind if I just kind of get rid of it here? I'll try to be quiet."
As understanding began to fill the fox, so did blood fill his face. He was now fully awake and he hid his face in the wolf's chest, though he was sure that it was unnecessary.
"I... Y-yeah, that's... that's okay," the fox stammered out. He scooted away and averted his gaze, though it was dark in the room.
As the wolf began to move, his eyes returned to where they had been. Before he could stop himself, he asked the wolf a question.